If you are ever in Detroit's Eastern Market area, this is a must-stop destination. Big slices, a tad greasy, but the grease was so good that customers showed us how to mop it up with the pizza. I took a bite and thought: This is the way pizza should be. Not overly compicated, simple and satisfying. We loved the San Gennaro Pizza with onions, roasted red peppers, sausage and mozzarella.
Address: 2457 Russell St, Detroit, MI
Phone: (313) 567-7879WebsiteMenuRELATED:Supino to expand at Detroit's Eastern Market in 'early 2014,' owner says

A nautical-themed bar and restaurant that seems like it might be better suited for the Lakeshore or even Florida. We weren't expecting too much in the way of pizza. As the cliché goes, you don't judge a book by its cover, or in this case, don't dismiss the pizza because it's a seafood restaurant. Chef Tom Hawkins has a culinary arts background and his pizza shows a great variety and ingenuity. It's a must stop for any pizza lover, you won't be disappointed. Our favorite was one of the pizzas they put on special: Cajun Jerk, which included blackened shrimp, pineapple, caramelized onions with mozzarella, provolone and feta cheeses, coconut curry sauce and a bitter chocolate and fresh oregano. If Fritz Klug had his choice, Deck Down Under would be in the top 10 because of the Seafood Flatbread, a New England-style clam chowder with mozzarella, white American and cream cheese with shrimp and pickled red onions.
Address: 11303 E. Chicago Rd, Jerome, MI
Phone: (517) 900-9213 WebsiteRELATED:The Deck Down Under showcases innovative recipes during Michigan's Best Pizza spot (with gallery and video)

Cugino's
Variety, variety, variety, that's what Cugino's offers. This Italian restaurant in Grand Ledge serves many styles. The dough was really light, and made an enjoyable deep dish pizza. Their calzones were also amazing, of which the restaurant offers 10 different varieties, as well as the ability to build your own.
Address: 306 S Bridge St, Grand Ledge, MI
Phone: (517) 627-4048WebsiteMenuRELATED:Cugino's calzones and variety impress Gonzo and the MLive crew

Erbelli's Gourmet Pizzeria
Erbelli's is a Kalamazoo staple. Owner Greg Erb is so cool: where else can you get an Iron Maiden beer with your Twisted Sista pizza? They do everything well, but especially shine on their Twisted Sista, which includes an alfredo-based pizza crust, a spicy chicken from popular Kalamazoo catering company Q-It-Up, gouda cheese, bacon, mushrooms, mozzarella and feta cheese finished with a garlic butter crust. It's been crowded every time I've been at one of their locations and people from the area always take pride in the pizza, knowing they can order just what they want.
Address: 6214 Stadium Dr, Kalamazoo, MI
Phone: (269) 375-0408WebsiteMenuRELATED:Oh my gouda!: Erbelli's amazes with variety of new specialty pizzas, classics

Everything about that place screams Flint: it's a bar, a family restaurant, a great price for lunch or dinner. They love their community and it shows by paying homage to local sports and opening the restaurant for charity events. Flint native and Major Leauge Baseball pitcher Jim Abbot even had his book signing there. The Super Deluxe, which includes pepperoni, hamburger, sausage, bacon, ham, green olives, mushrooms, onion, is a top seller. But their straight peperoni is great, too. Try it with some red wine vinegar, a Flint staple.
Address: 2132 Davison Rd, Flint, MI
Phone: (810) 234-9545WebsiteMenuRELATED:Gonzalez praises Luigi's 55-year-old recipe, tradition

Major props to Mitten for attempting the Gobbler: a Thanksgiving Day pizza. It hit the spot. But everything else was well done. Chef Justin Stermin is making winning, hand-crafted pizzas at one of my favorite GR brewereis offering hand-crafted beer. The Gobbler is a special for a limited period; if you are going another time, any of their specialty pizzas are worth checking out, and in the future, try their pizza sampler.
Address: 527 Leonard St NW, Grand Rapids, MI
Phone: (616) 608-5612WebsiteMenuRELATED:Gonzo helps Mitten Brewing celebrate anniversary

A local favorite for 40 years, owner Art Anderson has a recipe that keeps people coming back. He and his family -- wife Wilma, and sons Jim and Dave -- serve up traditional hand-tossed pizzas, deep dishes and a near-perfect stromboli. Our favorite pizza was a deep dish baked in an aluminum pan with pepperoni, ham, mushroom, onion, green peppers and bacon. But it's the stromboli and a special sauce that steals the show. The sauce includes mayonnaise, French dressing and hot sauce. We left with a super sub and a side of the special sauce!
Address: 221 W Parkdale Rd, Manistee, MI
Phone: (231) 723-6239WebsiteRELATED:Big Al's in Mainstee serves us family recipe, delicious strombolis

Best of the rest:Pizza Sam's 104 E Superior St., Alma MI 48801: Local pizza hero Sam Ortisi greeted when we visited the Alma restaurant. After telling us how he came from Sicily to Michigan and started making pizza, we tried two of his pies: pepperoni and supreme, loaded with ham, onion, green pepper, mushrooms and green olives. Anchovies were on the side. Alma College alumni love the place so much that a Florida graduate bought 10 pizzas to deliver to classmates on her drive south. Worth the stop for both the pizza and nostalgic experience.RELATED:Pizza Sam's mainstay in Alma; recipes loved by students, community

Bimbo’s 338 E Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI: A great family atmosphere where owner Matt Smilanich introduced us to his son, Ron, and 3-year-old Lucas -- the future owner. The downtown Kalamazoo restaurant offers great thin crust pizza cut in squares. You can also watch them putting square slices of mozzarella on the pizza from their store-front window.
RELATED:Bimbo's Pizza slices into the Michigan's Best Pizza contest with family recipes

Thompson's Pizzeria 20700 Old US Hwy 12, Chelsea MI: A hometown favorite, owner Lynda Collins is very active in the community, supporting local sports teams and causes. When we visited, the Chelsea High School volleyball team was there having a party. If you go, and you should, try the Cheesburger pizza with ground beef, onions, cheese and chopped pickles layered on a special sauce, and topped with French Fries. It reminded us of the Tally Burger in Lewiston.RELATED:Thompson's serves up hometown classic pizza

Pizza House 341 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor MI: Ann Arbor is known for the Big House, right. Well, it has an equally large tradition called "Pizza House." We hung out with a gorup of kids on their way to a University of Michigan basketball game. They had a lot of questions about our search. The Pizza House does a great job of making every style of pizza, and they do each one well. When school is in session, the pizzeria employs 50 to 60 delivery drivers.RELATED:A pizza for any taste at Ann Arbor's Pizza House

Roma Pizzeria G5227 N Saginaw St, Flint, MI: This was the stop where we met five-year-old future food critic Terance Kemp Jr. Or at least that's what we called him as he traveled to all three of our Flint-area visits. He was smiling away at the variety of styles at Roma's, including the Chicago-style deep dish.RELATED:Roma Pizzeria in Mt. Morris impresses tasters with time-honored recipes

B&C Pizza 476 N Tuscola Rd, Bay City MI: Do you want to get paid to eat pizza? You have the chance to do so at B&C pizza. It pays $200 if you can finish an 8-item deluxe in one hour. Only four people have done it. We had our try with a four-topping deluxe, and it was huge. Maybe I'll come back another day to the Bay City pizzeria, challenge or no challenge.RELATED:Bay County's B&C Pizza welcomes crew from MLive in search of Michigan's Best Pizza

At Linwood Hotel, they make sure each pizza looks perfect, even if that means using tweezers to pull out pepperoni after it's cutFritz Klug | MLive

Linwood Hotel 115 W Center St, Linwood MI: Their Philly Cheesesteak was not only creative, but well done. Loved the burnt crust and cheese. The other pizzas at the Linwood establishment were extremely well done. They pay attention to detail, so much so that co-owner Maggie Papworth used tweezers to make sure the pizza had a great presentation.
RELATED:MLive crew makes its way to Linwood Hotel for Michigan's Best Pizza search

MaMa Mia's Pizzeria 16535 Gratiot Rd, Hemlock MI: Loved the story of how Mary Ann Miklovic never thought she would be in the pizza business but ended up making good pies beloved by Hemlock. Both the cheese and peperoni are solid offerings. A great place to spend a Friday night. You feel at home.RELATED:Hemlock's MaMa Mia's Pizzeria offers a sweet sauce and a sense of home

Mr. Scrib's 555 E Laketon Ave, Muskegon MI : Well-known on the Lakeshore, Mr. Scribs has several locations around Grand Haven. We loved manager Marilynn Gwinwis' favorite pizza which included elephant garlic. It was not overpowering, but enough flavor to please every palate.RELATED:Gonzo tries Mr. Scrib's popular pizzas

Chuck Wagon 971 N Lakeshore Dr, Ludington MI: The Ludington pizza joint has a great, laid back atmosphere with tremendous community support -- and mighty fine pizza. They have a full bar, but don't really advertise it because they want to be known for their pizza. We tried both the peperoni and the supreme; you can't go wrong either way. Rick Chapman, who's owed the restaurant for 30 years, was working the kitchen and had some good jokes for the regulars and visitors like us.RELATED:Chuck Wagon in Ludington offers great piece in an intimate atmosphere

Riverside Bar & Pizzeria 98 E Genesee St, Iron River MI: Another one of the U.P. bars/restaurants that looks the same as it did 20, 30 and 40 years ago! They offer great pizza, which is cut in squares and topped with sliced mozzarella cheese. We ordered a small, 9-inch pizza with their own sausage and popped them in our mouths like candy. We ordered with "cheese out," which gave us a extra layer of cheese slices after the pie was cooked.RELATED:Riverside Pizzeria in western UP offers same pizzas as 50 years ago

Congress Pizzas 106 N Main St, Ishpeming MI: The last stop on our trip was in Ishpeming, but one of the most memorable. Where else can you to get a Cudighi sausage pizza? Oh, and go there on your birthday, you will love the candle on your pizza -- and "Happy Birthday" song soul the jukebox.RELATED:Want Cudighi on a pizza? Look no further than Congress Pizzas in Ishpeming

Surprise visits

There is so much good pizza in Michigan that we had to stop at a few other places along the way that we had to try. Here are the three:

Cardinal Country Pizza, 8220 Ellis Rd., Millington:

Not many sports teams have a restaurant named after them, but in Millington, fans, players and families head to Cardinal Country before the game or during the off seasons for a good pizza pie. And like the success the Millington High School teams have on the field, the restaurant has with pizza. We loved the sauerkraut pizza. I've never really like sauerkraut, but on this pizza, it combined with the cheese and crust to make something I loved. Their top seller is the Red Bird Pizza, which includes pepperoni, ham, sausage, ground beef, mushrooms, green peppers, and black and green olives.

Making the Naples Sampler at Tomatoes Apizza in Farmington HillsFritz Klug | MLive

Tomatoes Apizza, 29275 W 14 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills.

The pizza is made in a "New Haven-style," which means it has a thin crust with coal as the main heat source and cooking in a brick oven. We had the "Naples Sampler" with one-fourth pepperoni, one-fourth mozzarella, spinach and garlic; one-fourth white with mozzarella, fresh tomato, garlic and basil and one-fourht fresh mozzarella. Even after visiting six pizza places and tasting more than 30 pizza's, Fritz Klug had all four different slices at Tomatoe's Apizza. It's that good.

Martini's, 832 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI

My traveling companion Fritz Klug stopped by Martini's to see if his hometown pizza stacks up to the others we have tried. He ordered a pepperoni pizza and one with artichoke, green pepper, sausage and pepperoni. "Martini's was as good as I remembered when I lived in Kalamazoo," he said. "While there was a lengthy wait to get a table, the pizza was worth it. I know everyone who waited thought the same or they would have left the line sooner." While I had it cold the next day, I can see why it generates a lot of love from people in Kalamazoo. Can't wait to try it again soon.